Just Another Bade Story
by write-letters
Summary: Jade, although strong and confident, has her fair share of insecure moments. And she may need a little bit of support getting out of this one.


I wander over to where Andre said she was, slightly annoyed at being pulled out of what was Sikowitz's possibly coolest ever class. But that feeling is soon replaced when I see Jade, sitting on the floor with her knees pulled up to her face. This isn't normal. I have never, ever seen Jade cry. We've been together for what? Nearly two years now? The scene has left me speechless so far, and when she looks up at me, I find myself silently sitting down beside her and pulling her close. I'm in two minds. On one hand I don't even want to know what has upset her, because it is bound to be something extreme, but on the other hand, I want to - no, I _will_ - beat the crap of whatever or whoever has caused this.

For a while we just stay quiet, with Jade wrapped in my arms, but the silence is lost when my phone rings. It's Cat.  
"Cat?"  
"Yeah, how did you know?" she says in her usual spacey way of talking.  
"Caller ID, Cat," I remind her. Cat is sweet. A bit mentally odd, but you get used to that.  
"Oh, of course," laughs Cat over the phone. "Well Sikowitz wants you and Jade back in class now."  
I scratch my head. "Give us a few more minutes."

Hanging up, I glance at Jade. She's beginning to get up.  
"Come on. Class, right?"  
"Sure? You want to fix yourself up first? Or, I don't know, tell me what's wrong, maybe?" I stand up too.  
"Why? You can't handle a mascara streaked face?" Jade says sarcastically, pushing her hair away from her face. It's jet black and wavy, with blue streaks running down on either side. It adds to her generally fierce attire, I guess.  
"And you never asked," she adds, before heading into the girls' bathrooms, where I cannot follow.

The same evening, I sit in my RV, waiting for Jade to show up. She'd texted me saying, 'need to speak, your place?' I wonder what I am in for. Only when she walks in do I realise how badly it's raining outside. Jade is soaked.

Jade drops her bag by the door and heads straight to the kitcben area to make herself a coffee. I know where this is going. She'll act normal, like nothing happened today.

"Hey," I say, wrapping an arm around her waist. She turns to face me, smiling.  
"Hey," she whispers.  
"You want to take the jacket off? It's a bit wet." I try to take the cup from her so she can get the wet off.

"No." Instead, she shakes her head. "I came here to tell you something."  
"About this morning?" I lean back against the counter. Jade looks up at me, an expression I have never seen before on her face.  
"I think we should break up."

The words hit me pretty hard. I know I'm still a teenager, but Jade really means a lot to me.  
"You're breaking up with me?" I splutter. "May I ask why?" I don't know whether to be angry or upset. Jade's always unpredictable, but...

Her coffee hand trembled. This time when I tried to take the cup away, she didn't resist.  
"You'll spill it."  
Jade looks at the ground.  
"I have to go," she mumbles. I stand there, unsure of what to do. A thousand thoughts tumble through my head together, each fighting to surface first. One of these thoughts is: 'Jade doesn't _mumble_! What?!'

There is no way I'm letting her leave my RV without resolving this problem first. So I do the only thing I can, which is doing a running leap and tackling her to the ground just as she reaches for the door handle. Now, Jade is no ordinary girl. Yes, I'm bigger than her, and stronger too, but, god is she fierce as hell. I don't mean the cute little chihuahua baring its teeth at you fierce. I mean that great three hundred pound, hungry lion fierce. So it's understandable when it takes me a good couple of minutes of struggling to get her pinned to the floor.

"What is wrong with you?" she yells into my face, her eyes piercing into me like daggers which are capable of murder. But I'm used to that. Everyone should be by now, because that's also her 'hello, how are you' face.

"Me?" I retort, still calm, but panting. Her expression changes, just for a split second.  
"I don't need you making this difficult for me, Beck," she states simply, her face void of any emotion. Yet her voice catches.

I get up, off her, and walk away. I can't force her to speak. And I don't have to.

"I'm difficult."  
I turn around and come to face, once more, the most beautiful girl in the world.  
"So?"  
Jade frowns. "I'm _difficult_. Why do you love me?"  
I blow out a deep breath before stepping forwards and pulling her into my arms. Still stiff, but I can work with that.  
"Beck. You didn't answer my question."

I kiss the top of her head softly. "I love you _because_ you're difficult. And you're _beautiful_. Because I love you."  
Jade tightens her arms around me.  
"Yeah, those right out of a movie lines don't work with me."  
"You want to watch _The Scissoring_ tonight?" It's Jade's favourite movie, and I'm sure she's seen it enough times to know every single word off by heart. But who am I to complain; whatever makes her happy, makes me happy too. Dang. Did I actually just think that?

"Why not Tori? She's pretty. Single too."  
I sigh. "Jade. I don't love Tori." She's right about being difficult. "Easy is boring, Jade. I want someone who fights back."  
I finally get a smile out of her. She pulls away and heads to the sofa.  
"_The Scissoring_ it is!"

As the credits roll, a thought strikes me.  
"This is why you were upset this morning? Because you were worried that I didn't love you for being such a hard person to deal with?"  
Jade leans into me.  
"I wasn't crying."  
I laugh and ruffle her hair. "Of course."  
"I _wasn't_!" Jade sits up, pushing me away.  
"Jade. Come on. Tell Beck."  
She reaches to the remote and turns the television off.

"I don't know. I think I lost myself for a bit." She stares at the ground and distances herself from me by heading over to the sink for water. This is so unusual coming from confident and feisty Jade that I nearly laugh out loud, but stop myself just in time. I guess everyone has their moments though.

"And?" I prompt.  
She sighs, leaning her hip against the sink, water in hand.  
"Tell anyone, and I will personally murder you. I thought for a minute I should be nicer. I thought I was hopeless, I mean, everybody is scared of me! They hate me. I thought maybe I should be more like Tori. More perfect." She sees the look on my face.  
"Oh, come on! Everybody loves her!"  
I take Jade's hand. "More people would love you, too, you know. If you were more like this around them."  
Jade grins at me. "I don't want everyone to love me. Just you."  
Our lips finally meet. Hopeless? I'm hopeless. Hopelessly in love, that is.  
"You try to change, and I will personally murder you, Jade."  
"I dare you," she smiles mischievously.


End file.
